The Seattle Storm’s starting lineup has been impressive and healthy all season long. Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, and Gabby Williams are all All-Stars, and Erica Wheeler has improved her production significantly compared to last season.
The Storm’s problem is that there is not much behind the starters. Early injuries diminished Seattle’s bench. Nika Mühl tore her ACL in October while playing in Turkey. Jordan Horston suffered the same injury earlier this year in February. With that, the Storm lost their only two young players on the roster before the draft, missing out on a chance to develop them. As if that wasn’t enough yet, veteran Katie Lou Samuelson also tore her ACL during training camp.
After a few games, backup center Li Yueru asked for a trade, essentially leaving the Storm with three serviceable bench players. The team addressed that issue by signing Tiffany Mitchell.
Tiffany Mitchell was waived by the Aces
Tiffany Mitchell started the season with the Las Vegas Aces. She played 13.1 minutes per game and averaged 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds. After just 16 games, Las Vegas waived her to make room for NaLyssa Smith, whom the team acquired in a trade with the Dallas Wings.
During her stint with the Aces, Mitchell averaged a career low in scoring. The only time she had averaged fewer than six points per game before was in 2024 with the Connecticut Sun. In previous seasons, Mitchell put more points on the board, averaging 7.3 points over 33 games with the Minnesota Lynx in 2023, for example.
The Storm will need her to get back to that level and give the team a scoring boost off the bench.
Seattle desperately needs help off the bench
After all the injuries and the Li Yueru trade, the Storm were left with a bench of Alysha Clark, Dominique Malonga, Zia Cooke, Lexie Brown, and Mackenzie Holmes. Only the first three are regularly playing meaningful minutes. None of those players averages more than 4.6 points per game, and the Storm are ill-equipped to deal with injuries.
The team’s lack of bench production was exemplified in the Storm’s 81-59 loss to the Connecticut Sun. All five starters scored in double figures in that game. The bench provided four total points, all of which came from Alysha Clark. She played 13 minutes while Dominique Malonga and Zia Cooke only logged six and seven minutes, respectively.
Seattle desperately needs someone who can play reliable minutes off the bench and provide a boost of production behind the starters. Signing Mitchell is a first step in the right direction but may not be enough if the Storm get hit with another injury.